


Tiger Lily

by Elviah



Series: Arrowverse [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2019-09-02 07:22:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16782325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elviah/pseuds/Elviah
Summary: Zoe Harper is the younger sister of Roy. She is 19 years old with a grisly history of crime. What do you expect from living in the Glades? One afternoon, Roy steals the purse of Thea Queen, and the Harper's lives are never the same again.





	1. Episode Appearances Summary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An on-going list of the episodes Zoe Harper appears in and the role she plays.

Zoe is first seen in season 1 episode 15 “The Dodger” when Thea Queen goes to the Harper’s house to retrieve her purse. She answers the door and is immediately on edge when she sees Thea. Roy appears behind her moments later and asks Thea how she knew where he lived. Zoe then looks at Thea and comments distastefully that she was the one who got her brother arrested. Roy asks Zoe to give them a minute, and she says sure before disappearing into a backroom. After a brief conversation, Roy returns Thea’s purse and she leaves the Glades.

In season 1 episode 17 “The Huntress Returns”, Thea Queen is walking down a street in the Glades when she sees Roy and Zoe coming out of a rundown grocery store with coffee in their hands. She approaches them, and Zoe comments ‘of course he does’ after Thea says her brother owns the new club Verdant. She also lets out a snort of laughter after Thea tells Roy to ‘put up or shut up’, to which Roy snaps at her to stuff it. Zoe merely says the rich girl has a point before taking a sip of coffee. Roy tells Thea to talk to her brother, and she leaves with her NCRI coworker. As soon as they’re gone, Zoe teases Roy that he likes Thea, to which he scoffs and says ‘an uptown girl? Yea right’.  
Later in the episode, Thea shows up at the Harper’s house again and confronts Roy about skipping out on the job she got him. Zoe comes back just as she’s leaving and stops her in the road, asking her what she’s doing here. Thea tells her that Roy never showed up to the job she got him, and Zoe snorts, not surprised by it. She tells Thea that Roy isn’t exactly the charity type and Thea says ‘yea, so I heard’. Zoe tells her that she does appreciate Thea’s efforts, but its been her and Roy for so long that he is fairly stubborn about looking out for her and tends to stick to his ways. Thea then asks her how it ended up being just the two of them, but before Zoe can answer, the girls find themselves surrounded by a trio of thugs. Zoe whips out a switchblade and snaps at them to back off. One of them comments they are just looking to have a little fun, and Zoe makes a move to lash out at him but is attacked by one of the other guys. Thea screams, but before they can touch her, Roy appears and beats the shit out of the guys. Zoe breaks free from the guy holding her and deals with him while Roy takes down the other two. As soon as the thugs are unconscious, Roy collapses to his knees. Thea exclaims that he’s bleeding, and Zoe panics that the nearest doctor is too far away to walk. Thea tells her to help Roy to her car and they drive to a hospital downtown.  
It doesn’t take long for the trio to get brought to a room where a doctor is able to examine the wound. Zoe gives the doctor a brief explanation, but changes the story slightly to make it seem like Thea was alone when she was jumped and Roy saved her. Before either can argue, the doctor comments that Thea is lucky to have a friend like Roy, and he responds that they are not friends. Zoe, who is standing by the door, replies with ‘no, you’re just her personal purse-snatcher’. The doctor says he’ll just need to get Roy stitched up and then they can decide what they are and are not. Roy starts to eye the needle in the doctor’s hand, earning him a smartass comment from Thea about his fear of needles. She tells him to think about something else, and just as the doctor starts giving the shot, Thea tilts Roy’s chin towards her and gives him a kiss. She pulls away as soon as the doctor says he’s done and tells Roy it wasn’t so bad. Zoe discreetly slips out the door, walking down the hallway with an incredibly smug grin on her face.

In season 1 episode 18 “Salvation”, Thea and Roy are making out on the couch in his living room when there is a knock at the door. Much to Roy’s dismay, Zoe walks in the door and asks ‘when did you start locking our front door’ before she sees Thea on the couch. She stiffens and asks Roy if she should come back later, but Roy says no its fine and asks if she got it. Zoe pulls out a crinkled brown paper bag and hands it to him, telling him that Joe is expecting them tomorrow night at 11pm since he’s still pissed about the last time they were late. Thea asks what’s going on, and as Roy says ‘nothing’, Zoe says ‘we’re robbing a liquor store’. Roy turns to her, annoyed, and says ‘really?’. Zoe snaps back at him with ‘when you’re dating someone, you tell them the truth Roy.’ Roy denies that they are dating, but Zoe ignores him as she pulls out the gun and places it on the table. Thea quickly gets up and asks why they have a gun and Roy tells her he’s no good with knives. Zoe pipes up that those are her specialty as she pulls out the switchblade from their last interaction. Thea looks between the two of them with disbelief. Roy tries to defend himself, telling Thea that the owner is a creep who deserves it. Zoe mutters that creep doesn’t even start to describe him. Roy pauses and glares at her, asking what the hell she was doing in a liquor store in the first place. Zoe whips out an ID and says her fake looks just like her with a bit of makeup. Thea interjects and says ‘so you’re just going to rob this guy?’ Neither Zoe nor Roy say anything. Thea scoffs, shaking her head as she starts to leave, but Roy stands up and stops her, asking her where she’s going. Thea angrily says that she doesn’t understand why he’s ok with this after she got him a job at her brother’s club, that he had choices and didn’t have to be a criminal. Zoe quietly says it isn’t just phone bills they have to pay. Thea looks at her concerned, and Roy sighs, telling Thea that Zoe is right. He tells her he owes people with much bigger guns than the one he has, and if it’ll make Thea feel better, he’ll go unarmed as he empties the bullets onto the table. Zoe mutters ‘bad idea’ but doesn’t argue. Roy tells Thea that this is how things were in the Glades, but Thea tells him he’s ‘no, lots of people in the Glades live honest lives. Obviously not you.’ She pushes past him, angrily calling him a waste as she storms out the door. Roy gets up and goes to the doorway, calling out after her to let him make sure she gets home ok. Thea snaps at him ‘don’t bother.’ Roy goes back inside and turns to Zoe, an angry look on his face as he asks her why she did that. Zoe says ‘I walked in here with a gun. She was going to find out sooner or later.’ Roy sighs heavily, not having an argument. Zoe tells him ‘look, if you’d rather not go then don’t. I can handle myself.’ Roy growls ‘no way. We don’t know who else Joe is bringing, and I don’t trust Todd after what he said last week. No fucking way.’ ‘I’ll be fine, I can handle myself in a fight.’ ‘I’m coming with you. End of story.’ ‘alright, my overprotective big brother.’ ‘shut up.’ ‘love you too, asshole.’  
11pm rolls around. Zoe and Roy are leaving their house when Thea shows up. Roy stops at the top of the stairs and lets out a scoff while Zoe walks down and goes past Thea saying ‘I’m staying out of this one.’ Thea and Roy get into a brief argument while Zoe hangs out by the fence. All of a sudden, someone calls out Roy’s name, and a man (Joseph Falk) comes out of the shadows and injects something into Roy’s neck. Thea shrieks and tries to attack him, but he throws her to the ground easily. Zoe wastes no time in going after the guy with her knife. ‘Get the hell away from my brother.’ ‘I’m doing this city a favor. I’m saving it from people like him.’ ‘You’re no savior, you son of a bitch.’ In the middle of the fight, Joseph pulls a gun from his pocket and fires at Zoe, and the bullet goes through her right shoulder. She cries out, collapsing against the fence, and Joseph puts Roy’s limp body into the back of a van and escapes.  
In a panic, Zoe shakes Thea awake saying ‘Thea. Thea, get up. We gotta go. Now.’ ‘Zoe where is he? Where’s Roy?’ ‘That son of a bitch took him’ ‘You’re bleeding!’ ‘Forget that, Thea, my brother was just kidnapped!’ ‘You need a hospital.’ ‘No. I’m going to find Roy and you’re going to alert the police.’ ‘That psychopath just shot you! You are going to a hospital.’ ‘Thea, we don’t have time to argue about this! That’s the same guy that’s been livestreaming a kill cam. Bullet or not, and I am not about to let him add my brother to his list.’ ‘And I am not about to let you go off on a suicide mission and get yourself killed. You really think Roy would want you going after him like this?’ Zoe falls silent, and Thea notices how she is considerably paler than before. ‘I’m calling an ambulance.’ ‘Thea…he’s my brother. I can’t just leave him.’ Thea doesn’t respond.  
After the ambulance picks up Zoe, Thea rushes to Verdant where the Savior is once again livestreaming. Oliver discovers that Roy is in danger and heads to the Arrowcave, leaving Tommy to keep an eye on Thea, and the team executes a rescue mission to save Roy, which succeeds. Roy reunites with Thea at Verdant, and she tells him that Zoe had to be rushed to the hospital after being shot. The two of them head over there to find Zoe being restrained in her room by two doctors, screaming about her brother being in danger. As soon as Zoe sees Thea and Roy in the doorway, she goes stock still for a moment before rushing into a tight embrace with Roy. The doctors tell her she is in no shape to be leaving and should stay the night to be monitored, to which Zoe vehemently argues until Roy tells her ‘You’re staying. End of story.’ Thea quietly covers the cost of Zoe’s surgery, using her family funds to keep the Harper’s out of debt. Roy stays with Zoe at the hospital overnight where he shows her the arrowhead that he had in his pocket. Zoe asks him where he got it from, and Roy describes the events that unfolded in the underground subway train before telling her that he think he can use it to find The Hood. ‘You want to find him? Why?’ ‘Zoe, he just saved my life. I need to…I don’t know.’ ‘Thank him.’ ‘Yea, I guess. I just feel like I owe him, you know?’ ‘Yea…so what’s the plan?’ ‘What?’ ‘For The Hood. How are we going to find him?’ Roy half-smiles.

In season 1 episode 20 “Home Invasion”, Roy manages to steal a police radio from the station when Quentin has his back turned and meets Zoe down the block. ‘Did you get one?’ ‘Yea, right here.’ ‘Sweet, then let’s get out of here before they realize it’s gone.’  
Thea and Roy are having supper at a diner when she hears the police radio and realizes he has it in his pocket. When they report a sighting, Roy tells Thea that he has to run, and shoots a text to Zoe on his way out the door. She meets him down at the docks, but they quickly discover that Quentin had planted the radio and set a trap for them.  
Thea comes in later looking for Roy and finds him and Zoe handcuffed to their chairs. Quentin takes the three of them to the morgue and shows them The Hood's 26th victim. When Roy suggests that the man deserved it, Quentin concedes the point but warns that working outside the law can be a dangerous rush. Zoe says they are well aware of what it is like living outside the law. Roy insists that The Hood saved his life, but Quentin warns him that the next time, the vigilante might decide to make Roy the 27th corpse.  
Thea and the Harpers meet up in uptown Starling after being released, and Roy explains to Thea that he owes The Hood for saving his life. He tells her that he thinks he has a connection to the vigilante. When Roy vows to find the vigilante, Thea says that they'll do it together. ‘All of us.’

In season 1 episode 22 “Darkness on the Edge of Town”, Zoe is in the backseat of the car as Roy and Thea are watching the police activity at Unidac Industries. Thea says they haven’t found a trace of The Hood in two weeks, and Roy suggests she uses her position at CNRI to get some information. Zoe tells them that her contacts haven’t been able to give her anything useful yet, so it would be worth a shot.  
Thea goes to the police station and asks an officer for arrest files for a case she's working. When the officer goes to get the files, Thea secretly listen in as Quentin and Hilton discuss how Markov made several calls to an unclaimed line at Merlyn Global. Quentin tells Hilton to bring down someone from the company to answer questions under oath. Thea goes to the Harper’s house and tells them that the copycat archer is involved with Merlyn Global, and suggests that they go there and check it out. Zoe agrees that they can go tomorrow and dips out for the night, giving her brother space to spend time with Thea.  
The following day, the trio goes to Merlyn Global, but just as they go inside, Zoe spots Thea’s brother coming out of the elevator with Malcolm and freezes in place with Roy. Thea approaches Oliver and asks what he’s doing there, and he says that he's there to talk with Tommy. She points out that he just came down on the elevator and wonders why he's going back up. As he talks with Thea, Oliver notices Roy and Zoe and asks his sister why she's really there. She admits that she and the Harper’s are trying to find The Hood. Oliver goes over to the siblings and tells them that the vigilante is a dangerous psycho and he doesn't want Thea anywhere near The Hood. Zoe and Oliver stare each other down, both trying to nonverbally protect their siblings. Felicity comes down on the elevator and Oliver tells Roy to take Thea home.  
When the trio returns to the Harper’s house Roy immediately works on a new plan. When Thea reminds him of Oliver's warning, Roy dismisses her brother as a wimp. Angry, she points out that Oliver survived five years on a deserted island. ‘I was lucky to get him back,’ Thea emphasizes. ‘Not everyone loses their loved ones and gets them back,’ Roy retorts. Zoe visibly winces. Thea looks at him in confusion, but neither he nor Zoe want to discuss who they lost. ‘I want to find The Hood so I can learn how to avoid losing anyone else,’ Roy says. Zoe looks at her brother wistfully, whispering ‘Roy…’ Thea shakes her head and gives him an ultimatum. ‘You can either have me, or The Hood, but not both.’ ‘Well, then it’s probably better that you leave now rather than later,’ Roy replies. Furious, Thea walks out. After a moment of silence, Zoe asks ‘You ok?’ ‘I’m fine.’ ‘Come on. We still have a vigilante to find.’

In season 1 episode 23 “Sacrifice”, Zoe and Roy watch the TV in horror as the announcer shares that Moira Queen admitted to being part of a conspiracy theory to destroy the Glades. ‘What the fuck? Is she serious?’ Zoe asks in hysterical tone as she abruptly stands up from the couch, staring in horror at the Glades Under Attack headline. Seconds later, they hear a megaphone voice call out ‘Stay calm. Do not rush, and do not panic,’ and immediately head for the front door. Zoe and Roy go outside and see the streets filled with chaos. People are screaming and running while cars are trying to force their way through the crowds. ‘Oh my god,’ Zoe gasps. ‘Roy, we gotta go. Now.’ She runs back inside to grab her switchblades, and then her and Roy take off running with the crowd.  
As they are going through the streets, they run past a trio of thugs throwing metal drums through windows and stealing the valuables inside. Roy comes to a halt as he hears someone calling for help, and they turn to see an old man being dragged into an alleyway by two more thugs. ‘Those bastards,’ Zoe mutters as they pursue. Roy yells out ‘Back off!’ to the thugs as he and Zoe catch up. A third man retorts ‘Learn how to count, jerkwad, there’s three of us.’ Zoe shoots him a glare as Roy says ‘Oh, is that right?’ The two cronies try to tackle the siblings and are taken down in less than a minute. Roy faces the man again and comments ‘cause I only count one.’ ‘With a gun,’ the man replies, pulling one from his pocket. Roy stops, and Zoe pulls a knife from her pocket that she’s ready to throw, but a bottle suddenly shatters against the back of the man’s skull, and he collapses unconscious. ‘What the-’ Zoe exclaims, and they look up to see Thea walk out from behind a corner. ‘Where did you learn how to do that?’ Roy asks as he approaches his girlfriend. ‘I guess I have wicked aim,’ Thea replies, though she is visibly unnerved. She swallows, taking a moment to collect herself. ‘I went to your house.’ ‘Yea, I figured I’d run for my life with everyone else. Did you…did you come here to rescue me? Us?’ Roy asks in surprise, glancing over at Zoe as she walks up next to him. Thea nods. ‘Yea,’ she smiles, and reaches out for his arm. ‘Come on.’ ‘You’ve got dang good timing, Queen,’ Zoe remarks, and the three of them take off running.  
Roy hotwires a car, and as they all pile in, Roy pulls out his phone and starts texting with one hand, using the other to drive. ‘You do know how dangerous it is to text and drive?’ Thea berates as the car skids around a drum in the road. ‘It can wait.’ ‘No it can’t. I’m trying to find us another ride out of here,’ Roy retorts. ‘Oh, for god’s sake, Roy, give your girlfriend the damn phone!’ Zoe shouts just as Thea snatches it out of his hand. Another car skids in front of them, and Roy has to slam on the brakes to avoid a collision. The car screeches to a stop, and the trio look up to see a man slamming on the hood of their car, asking them for help. They look up and see a bus full of passengers is stuck on top of a flipped car. ‘Holy crap,’ Zoe says, jumping out of the car and running towards the wreckage before either Thea or Roy can argue. Roy gets out, and Thea begs him to stop, telling him ‘The device is going to go off at any second.’ Zoe is trying to push the tipped car away from the bus so that its doors can be opened, but isn’t having any luck and yells to Roy that she needs help. Roy tells Thea ‘I can’t leave anyone behind. Thea tearfully says ‘Look, I know you think you have something to prove, but you’re not the vigilante.’ Roy reaches out and gently grabs her shoulder as he says ‘Look, I can’t do this unless I know you’re safe.’ Thea gives him a look and demands ‘Then you better haul ass out of here too.’ They embrace, kissing hard, before Thea gets in the car and leaves. Zoe and the man who stopped them are having little luck, but as soon as Roy comes over, they are able to move the vehicle and get everyone off the bus. As the passengers are evacuating, Zoe looks over at Roy and nods, and the siblings take off running towards the heart of Starling City. They manage to get out just as the device goes off, and Zoe suggests heading to Thea’s house for a while so that she knows they are safe.


	2. Discontinued AU Storyline

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is an alternate storyline where Zoe was initially going to be given pyrokinetic powers from the particle accelerator explosion. That idea has been scraped, but I liked this scene and decided to keep it posted.

“Shut the hell up, Joe! This is your fault!” she shrieked.

The sirens and flashing lights were getting closer. There was no way they would be able to clean everything up before the cops found them, and once they pulled evidence from the area, her brother would be screwed. A groan of pain came from Roy as he curled in on himself, tightly holding his hands to his gut. The front pocket of his hoodie was a much darker red than the rest of it.

“I didn’t try! Solomon pulled a knife, I thought he was going to stab Roy,” Joe said defensively. 

“So you shot them both?” Zoe accused.

Neither one of them acknowledged the body slumped against the garbage bin. Joe stood there with his mouth gaping as he tried to come up with a feasible response, but Zoe turned away as she muttered under her breath.

“Thea’s gonna kill me.” 

It was just supposed to be a simple robbery. None of them were expecting their rivals to make a hit on the same location at the exact same time. Zoe suspected that was no coincidence, but the only one who could’ve confirmed it was pretty useless now. A police car blared its horn from the street, and they could hear footsteps moving quickly down the sidewalk.

“Shit,” Zoe cursed. “Roy, get up, we gotta move. Now.”

She kneeled down, wrapping one arm around her brother’s ribcage and pulling him to his feet. This wasn’t the first injury Roy had faced, but it was certainly the worst as he stumbled into her grip. Zoe shouldered as much of his weight as she could without losing her own balance. 

“Where are we going?” Joe asked.

Zoe turned to glare at him.

“Roy and I are leaving,” she stated coldly.

Joe’s brow furrowed. “What the hell does that mean?”

He angrily strode towards her, halting abruptly after a single step. Joe’s eyes bulged and he looked down slowly, the shock taking time to register as he realized Zoe’s switchblade was lodged in his chest. 

“You’ll live, but my brother and I are not taking the fall for your idiocy,” Zoe snarled.

They turned and disappeared into the cover of the night. The guilt nagging at the back of her mind was nothing compared to how worried she was about her brother. The Harper’s knew their way around the Glades better than anyone, but it still took them precious minutes to get back to their house.

Zoe practically kicked down their front door as she dragged Roy inside. The bleeding hadn’t stopped, and keeping her hand pressed to his sweatshirt only did so much damage control. With a grunt, Zoe brought the two of them into the kitchen, but between the sweat sheening her arms and his blood soaking into her hands, Roy slipped out of her grasp and collapsed against the wall.

“Roy!” 

He groaned loudly, forcing himself upright to a seated position. “I’m – I’m alright sis,” he panted.

“You’re a terrible liar,” Zoe snarled, trying to ignore the rising panic in her gut.

She didn’t have any medical training and the hospital was too far away. They had just been there three days ago for the stab wound he’s gotten from the thugs, but Thea had been there to drive them. Now she was on her own with no time to waste.

“Cazzo,” she hissed.

“You play…too much…Assassins Creed,” Roy coughed, a faint smirk on his lips.

A true statement, but Zoe didn’t have the stomach to laugh right now. She needed to act fast or her brother was going to bleed out on their kitchen floor.

“I need to call an ambulance, Roy.”

“I’ll…arrested? Again?”

He was speaking in broken sentences. Not good.

_It would’ve been better if we had just stayed there. Too late now._

The fact that Roy wasn’t arguing with her only made Zoe more anxious. She yanked her phone out of her pocket and dialed the same people they had just made their escape from.

“Hello? Yes, I need an ambulance. My brother” – a weak cough shook Roy’s chest as a thin stream of blood trickled from the side of his mouth, and his eyelids fluttered shut – “he was…Roy? Roy, stay with me. Roy!”

* * *

“Miss Harper?”

Zoe abruptly stood from the chair she was in and approached the doctor. He was an older guy with dark brown hair and wrinkles at the edges of his eyes. Older meant experienced, which brought a sliver of relief to her.

“Roy – he’s your brother, right?”

Zoe nodded, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Is he ok?”

“He’ll be alright in a couple days. However, I do have a couple concerns about his injury.”

_Oh boy, here we go._

Zoe started picking at the edges of her fingernails, and the doctor was either oblivious to or ignoring her nervousness as he spoke.

“It seemed that Roy had already lost a lot of blood by the time he got here. Is there any reason you would have delayed in calling the police?”

Her movements stopped as Zoe glared up at the doctor.

“You mean besides the fact that we live in the Glades and can’t afford to pay hospital bills?” she replied heatedly.

“I meant no offense, Miss Harper, but gunshot wounds can be fatal if not treated immediately,” the doctor explained. “You’re lucky you called when you did. Any later and I’m afraid Roy would have bled out.”

Fear gripped Zoe’s throat at hearing those words, and she could only nod in response. The doctor, whose name Zoe had forgotten, offered a smile.

“He should recover just fine, but it will be a while before he wakes up. The sedatives need some time to work their magic.”

Zoe exhaled loudly, dragging a hand through her hair.

“Alright. Thank you, doctor.”

He left the room as Zoe returned to the recliner she had been in for the past four hours. She slowly sat down in the chair, sinking into the plush cushions. Her whole body ached and was crying out for sleep that Zoe refused to give. It was not an option until she knew for certain that her brother was ok.

Zoe sat upright in her chair.

Thea.

The Queen girl had no idea Roy was in the hospital or that he had been shot.

“Shit, where the hell is – god damn it,” she cursed as she dug around wildly in her pockets. “I swear to god if I lost my –”

It was almost 2am, which meant Thea was most likely finishing up the party scene for the night. At least that’s what Zoe was hoping. If not, then Queen was in for a rude awakening.

Zoe held the phone to her ear as she stood up from the recliner. What was she even going to say? How was she going to explain her brother’s condition? Never mind the fact that she had stolen Thea’s number off of his phone earlier in the week. The anxiety was welling up in her gut again for the tenth time tonight, and just when Zoe was going to hang up, she heard Thea’s voice.

“Hello?”

“Thea, it’s me.”

“Who is me?”

“It’s Zoe. Roy’s sister.”

“How did you get –”

“No time to explain. Listen, Thea, Roy was shot and he’s in the hospital.”

“What?!”

“I meant to call you sooner, but it all happened so fast. I just talked to the doctor, and he said Roy should be fine, but – god, Thea, he said I was almost too late and that –”

“Zoe, stop. Take a breath…where are you?”

“Starling General Hospital.”

“Don’t move. I’m on my way.”

The dead air indicated Thea had hung up. Zoe tucked her phone back into her pocket, exhaling a breath she didn’t even realize she was holding as she turned around and returned to the recliner. With one less burden off of her back, the wall of adrenaline suddenly came crashing down and a wave of exhaustion overtook her.

“Damn it,” Zoe muttered as she took a moment to massage her temples.

Sleep sounded much more appealing now than it did ten minutes ago, but still, Zoe resisted. Not until Thea got here. She could hold out a while longer.

* * *

“Zoe?”

Someone was shaking her shoulders. With a groan, Zoe forced her eyes to open, hissing slightly as sunlight hit her directly in the eyes. What time of day was it? She shook her head, blinking her vision back into focus as she looked up to see a familiar face.

“Thea. When did you–?” 

“A couple hours ago. You were dead to the world when I got here.”

The smirk on Thea’s face looked very much like the one Roy always gave her, which made Zoe chuckle.

 _Two peas in a pod alright_.

“Any word on Roy?” Zoe asked, and Thea shook her head.

“Not yet.”

Zoe leaned back into the cushions with a sigh. How was she still so tired? Last night hadn’t been her first rodeo in the criminal arena.

 _I guess that’s what happens when you watch your brother get shot. Everything goes into overdrive_.

Thea sat down on the couch, her concerned expression veiling an icy voice.

“Zoe, what happened last night?

Zoe glanced up, unsurprised by Thea’s subtle lash. She wasn’t stupid. Her brother and the Queen girl had something flirty going on, but she also knew that Thea did not approve of their nightly survival tactics.

“Robbery gone wrong,” Zoe answered.

Her attempt at sounding nonchalant only drew an irritated scoff from Queen.

“Figures. What happened?”

“One of our rival gangs showed up at the exact same time we did, which, in my opinion, was no coincidence.”

Thea’s brow furrowed.

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying I think someone set us up,” Zoe retorted coldly. “I suspect it was Joe, the selfish prick. He had been acting funny last night, but I played along to see what game he was playing, and he paid for it.”

Thea raised a brow at Zoe, clearly wanting to know more. Zoe leaned forward in the chair, resting her elbows on her knees and folding her hands together.

“I drilled that son of a bitch with my blade and left him for the cops to find while helping Roy get away. He won’t die, but he won’t be getting out of jail anytime soon either.”

The disbelief on Thea’s face quickly shifted into uneasiness.

“Wait a second, if you stabbed Joe with _your_ knife, won’t the cops come after you?” she asked.

Zoe shrugged, saying nothing. It was the most likely outcome, and it was the one she was not going to think about right now. If she was arrested, Roy would ravage the entire city until she was walking free again.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the doctor walking into the waiting area, and both girls stood from their seats.

“Miss Harper,” he greeted, eyeing Thea curiously. “Your brother is awake and has been asking for you. You may go in to see him, but he may not say much. The surgery has left him quite drained.”

Zoe let out a heavy sigh of relief, dragging a hand through her hair. 

“Thank you. Can you show us where he is?”

The doctor glanced at Thea again, seemingly debating whether or not to ask who she was, but merely waved his hand towards the hall.

“Right this way.”

Zoe and Thea followed the doctor all the way down to the end of the hallway before going into a door on the left.

Roy lay on a bed covered by white sheets, the bandages around his chest peeking out from under the covers. Zoe had seen him in bad shape before, but this was…worse. Way worse. Something about the overly sterile environment and blindingly white room – never mind the constant threat of death hanging in the atmosphere – just made Zoe’s nerves stand on end.

As for Roy himself, he had never looked so pale. It quite literally looked like all the blood had drained from his face, and according to the doctor, that was exactly what had happened.

Zoe and Thea entered the room as quietly as possible. It was like they were afraid that the smallest sound would cause Roy to just crumble to pieces in front of them. Despite their best efforts, Roy’s eyelids cracked open as soon as they were close, and the edge of his lips turned up in a weak smile.

“Hey Zo,” he groaned, trying futilely to conceal his pain.

Zoe sat down on the edge of the rickety bedframe, reaching out to grasp her brother’s hand. Had his grip always been this weak or was she just imagining things? God, this was harder than she thought.

Shaking her head, Zoe swallowed hard, forcing herself to smile. Roy was alive. He was ok. She could get through this. Breathe.

“Hey yourself,” she whispered. “How do you feel?”

“Like I’ve been hit by a dump trunk.”

Zoe’s smile was genuine this time as she let out a snort.

“I’ll bet. You certainly look like it,” she teased. 

Roy chuckled quietly, despite his weariness, but his attention soon shifted to the figure standing at the very edge of the bed.

“Thea,” he croaked, his voice cracking as soon as he said her name. “Wh-what are you doing here?”

Thea went to the other side of the bed and leaned heavily against it, then decided to mirror his sister and sit down. The smirk on her face was apparent.

“Zoe called me and said you guys had gone chasing after bad guys with swords and firecrackers.”

“And jellybeans,” Zoe added.

Roy raised a brow at the two girls, letting out a half-hearted snort to hide his grin.

“Unbelievable. Did she tell you about the ninjas too?”

They all laughed

Unfortunately, the light-hearted mood was soured moments later by a knock on the door. Thea looked up first, inhaling sharply as soon as she lifted her gaze. Roy followed her gaze, slowly turning his head, and immediately tightened his grasp on his sister’s hand. Zoe closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She didn’t need to look to know who had just walked in.

“Zoe Harper.”

The faint jingling metal made her heart seize. Handcuffs. Oh, how she hated the person responsible for creating those metal restraints. Zoe lifted her gaze to the SCPD as they entered the room.

“Detective Lance.” She couldn’t quite hide the surprise in her voice. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Cut the crap. I put up with a lot of nonsense from you and your brother, but murder?” Lance shook his head. “That’s a new low, even for a Harper.”

Roy started growling curses under his breath, but Zoe cut him off.

“Can I give a statement here or are you going to insist on dragging me out in handcuffs?” she replied with a sweet, sarcastic smile.

Lance let out a huff.

“As much as I’d love to drag your ass out in cuffs, we need statements from you both, and your brother doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere anytime soon.”

Zoe smirked. This was too good of an opportunity to pass up. “I didn’t take you for the kinky type, Detective,” she commented.

Roy coughed, covering his mouth to fight against laughing out loud. Thea was less successful in her attempt to hide a grin. As for Lance, his cheeks flushed red, though whether it was from embarrassment or anger, Zoe couldn’t tell.

“Real funny from someone who is facing a lifetime in prison,” he retorted sharply.

All three of them flinched, the deadpan silence stifling any humor. Zoe stared at Detective Lance, her jaw gaping in shock as she tried to gauge whether or not he was just saying that to intimidate her. No. This was no joke. Roy broke the silence first.

“Are you…you’re serious?” he asked, struggling against his weariness to speak.

His face contorted with an aggressive fear, the kind Zoe only saw when Roy felt like he was being backed into a corner. A figurative corner, in this case, but the empty pit in her gut sure made her feel like she was up against a brick wall.

Lance let out a heavy sigh, a flicker of sympathy in his eyes.

“Yeah. Clearly you two don’t quite understand the severity of what happened last night.”

Thea looked between the two groups nervously, her voice heavy with anxiety. “Zoe, didn’t you say you thought you were setup last night?”

“Thea!” Zoe hissed, shooting her a glare and missing the look that Lance and his partner exchanged.

That was not supposed to have been brought up. The business she and her brother were involved in was enough to get them both caged up for life, and now with that little tidbit out in the open, it was just one more thing that could be used against them.

The grip in her hand tightened, catching Zoe by surprise as she looked over at Roy. The furrow in his brow was enough of an indicator that he hadn’t come to the same conclusions she had after the night had turned sour.

“Zoe, what is…Thea talking about?” he asked stiffly, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Zoe raised a brow at her brother. “You sure you want me talking about it with Bacon 1 and 2 in the room?”

The confused mutters from the SCPD should’ve brought a smirk to Zoe’s lips, but no. Not this time. Not when they were facing such dire circumstances.

“Speaking of talking about things,” Zoe said, turning back to Lance and his partner. “Are we even allowed to say anything without an attorney in the room?”

“No. You’re not.”

The feminine voice was followed by clicking heels entering the room, and everyone looked to the door to see Laurel Lance coming in.

Quentin let out a quiet groan. “Laurel, sweetie, what are you doing here?”

She turned to her father, looking and sounding every bit of the attorney she was.

“You were about to take statements in a hospital room with no official witnesses, in the presence of a civilian, and you seriously think the courtrooms would accept that as testimony?” she asked in a critical tone.

Quentin stumbled over his words while trying to come up with a viable response, but Laurel did not wait for one.

“I understand you are just trying to do your job, dad, but don’t let a personal vendetta keep you from doing it _right_.”

She held her father’s gaze, the intensity in her eyes making Zoe swallow thickly. They were either about to be rescued, or they were totally screwed.

Quentin held up his hands in mock defeat.

“Alright. We’ll give them a couple days –”

“A week,” Laurel interjected, earning her a cold glare from her dad.

“Fine. A _week_ , but then we are going to need a statement from _both_ of them,” Quentin said flatly, pointing his finger to the Harper’s.

Laurel nodded once, and Lance and his partner left. As soon as he was out the door, Laurel turned back to the three of them, looking even more serious than before. There was sympathy in her eyes. Sort of. It was hard to tell when she wasn’t smiling.

“He wasn’t lying, you know. About facing a lifetime in prison,” she said quietly.

Zoe flinched again. Her fear was echoed by the tremble she felt in her brother’s hand, and Zoe rotated her wrist, interlocking her fingers with Roy’s as a way to try and comfort both of them. It didn’t stop the bile from creeping up her throat.

“What does the SCPD think happened?” Thea asked.

Zoe had almost forgotten the Queen girl was in the room. Oh duh, she was the civilian Laurel had been referring to.

Laurel glanced at Thea, her lips pursed. “Not now. We will talk on Friday after Roy has had time to heal.”

“Why wait?” Zoe asked, earning a critical look from Laurel. “Let’s just get down to the station and get this over with.”

Laurel’s eyes narrowed.

“Maybe you aren’t aware of this Zoe, but you _can’t_ walk into the police station right now,” she warned. “The second you step foot in that building, SCPD will have the right to detain you until trial…and believe me when I say they is _exactly_ what they will do.”

Fear once again seized Zoe’s chest, and she swallowed hard. She couldn’t – no, she _wouldn’t_ – risk that, but a week? That was it. That was all Laurel had guaranteed with her brother before both of their lives were going to be turned upside down.

Zoe pinched the bridge of her nose, exhaling a shaky breath to try and calm down, but panic was fraying her nerves.

This was all too much. She and Roy were being charged with _murder_. Of all the crimes they had committed, this was never been on the table. Not once. They had agreed a long time ago to not do anything stupid that would land the other in prison, but last night, Zoe had been desperate, and now they were caught up in this disaster.

Never mind the fact that they could go to prison. That was just a giant concrete cage. A cage that would guarantee she would be separated from her brother. The mere thought of not being able to see Roy shook her to the core. He was all Zoe had.

Some of the street thugs called her obsessed, but they had no idea what the Harper’s had been through. No one else deserved the same depth of loyalty that Zoe had for Roy, and she didn’t trust a single person as much as she did her own brother. Why would she? It was her and Roy that had fought through hell when their parents died. Not anyone else.

“Zoe.”

She jumped, broken out of her trance by Roy’s gravelly voice, and lifted her head to find her brother looking at her with a determined expression, which both confused and concerned Zoe, so she stole a glance around the room.

Laurel and Thea were both staring at her intently like they were waiting for her to say something.

“Sorry,” Zoe muttered, dragging her free hand through her hair. “Lot on my mind. What did you say?”

Laurel and Thea exchanged a glance. Their sympathetic expressions were so blatantly obvious that Zoe couldn’t decide if she was irritated or thankful that they actually cared.

“I was going to ask if you had any questions right now, but I think we’ll wait until you and your brother have had some time to process everything,” Laurel said decidedly.

Zoe nodded.

“Yea…I just…need some time to think.”

“I understand.”

Laurel picked up a manila folder from a chair. When had she brought that in? She gave a nod to Thea and made her way to the edge of the room.

“I’ll be in touch,” she said to Zoe, then disappeared through the doorway.

Thea stood moments later, leaning down to peck Roy on the cheek.

“I should get going,” she murmured.

Roy didn’t have the energy to argue, but he did make the effort to pull Thea in for a real kiss. A few minutes later, Thea was out the door, and the Harper’s found themselves alone for the first time in almost 24 hours.

“So,” Roy groaned. “What now?”

Zoe let out a heavy sigh, burying her face in her hands. That was a damn good question.

“I don’t know, Roy.”

She pushed herself up from the edge of the bed and walked over to the window, crossing her arms across her chest as she stared out over the city’s nightlife. Whatever hole they had managed to dig themselves into just seemed to get deeper and deeper the longer Zoe thought about it, and right now, she couldn’t find the ladder to get them out.

“I don’t know.”


End file.
